Ski jumping — in its pure form and paired with cross-country skiing in the Nordic combined — is the only Winter Olympic event in which women do not compete. There just aren’t that many at the top level. Maybe it’s because they have the good sense not to zoom down a ramp up to 70 mph, fly the length of a football field without wings, then land and come to a stop without brakes.
…Ski jumping isn’t just a male thing. It’s an oddball male thing. You have to be a little bit different to get into this sport, which explains why among the competitors gathered at these Games you’ll find a Slovenian who owns a two-foot boa constrictor (Rok Benkovic), an Italian who kept his ski-jumping activities a secret from his parents until they read about it in the newspaper (Alessio Bolognani) and an Austrian soldier whose motto is “Only dead fish swim with the current” (Martin Koch).
J.D. Adande in the Los Angeles Times